There are no doubts that the Bhojpuri film industry is booming. Through them actors like Ravi Kissen and Nagma have gained huge popularity among people. Even the Big B chosae to do a Bhojpuri film called 'Ganga' where he had a major role to play.

Earlier it was either Hollywood or Bollywood movies which were aired on television, but it seems that Bhojpuri films have made there mark, too. A major channel of Star has devoted one of its primetime slots to Bhojpuri films.

It is a Bhojpuri Fest on Star Gold all through the month! The afternoon primetime slot on Saturday, that is, the 1 pm slot has been given to Bhojpuri films. The month kicked off with 'Dhartiputra' starring Manoj Tiwari.

So what is the strategy behind airing these films? Harsh Rohatgi, General Manager, Content and Programming, Star India Pvt. Ltd., explains: "The Bhojpuri film industry is growing hugely. Star Gold was the first to air dubbed foreign language movies and now it's Bhojpuri films as a part of our innovation process." Rohatgi believes that Bhojpuri films have a viewership in the Hindi-speaking belts and also in metros like Mumbai and Delhi. He says that the films are always distributed all over the country since they have a huge viewership. "The primetime slot was provided because we had to give a good platform to the films," clarified Rohatgi.

The rest of the movies lined up for the month are the Manoj Tiwari-Rinku Ghosh starrer, 'Daroga Babu I Love U' (17 March); the Ravi Kissen-Shraddha Sharma starrer, 'Kab Hoi Milanwa Hamar' (24 March) and the Ravi Kissen-Aparajita dacoit drama, 'Hum To Ho Gayin Tohar' (31 March ).

Happy viewing! - (SAMPURN)